Darrel the Daring's Story

Come one, come all! Come to the Dark Woods Circus, where you will see sights aplenty and freaks unlike any!
Deep, deep in the heart of the forest, there you’ll find that circus.

With many different acts to entertain you, though if you want to be mystified and afraid we have just the thing!

Look at her, Sister the snake Whisperer. Some say she is half snake and can speak to the snakes! You will have to watch her act to believe, though with her scales and eyes who are we to disbelieve? Why the command she has over her pets is extraordinary! We don’t doubt her snake like charm, but she is not the friendliest of freaks so keep a safe distance away you don’t want to get bitten. Few have lived to tell the tale once they have suffered her bite.

Speaking of bites, we found the Blue Beast that had terrorized the woods nearby! Look in amazement and horror! For what we thought for years when he terrorized us as a demon is nothing more than a boy. Ah don’t put your hand in there! He doesn’t have a muzzle on and the rumors of something eating the people in the woods are true. Someone has lost fingers and an arm by sticking their hand in his cage. Don’t worry we keep him fed with raw flesh. If you want to hear the story from the beasts mouth, well I am afraid that is impossible. He doesn’t seem to be able to speak, though his teeth are as sharp as knives.

All right, let’s see something exciting shall we?! We have the youngest knife thrower here, and we do not want to be late for her act, she will not hold her act up she always is on time and her knives hit the mark! Look at her cheerful face as she throws her knives like perfectly timed gears in a clock, which is why we call her Clock Work Alice! Such grace, such poise! You will not see a better knife thrower in all the land, and that is my guarantee! If you do you can call me a fool.

Speaking of fools we have one here. One who has seemed to had forgotten his name so just call him the Nameless Pierrot. He tumbles, he bumbles, and fumbles! He stands on balls and juggles, on his unicycle to he will do that and ride across the tightrope, hope he doesn’t fall. Well even if h does he will just get back up and smile like he always does with that mask of his. He is not the most daring of fellows and doesn’t really speak much.

But if you want daring than you are in for a treat! Our very own ringleader is an escape artist! He joined us when he was eighteen and has worked his way to the top. He can escape anything and everyone. He runs this place on a very short leash. Some see it as cruel, but when we are dealing with such dangers as we are, well wouldn’t you? He leaves the manual work to others though.

Like Bosco! Let’s give this hard worker a hand. He is no performer, however what he does is invaluable. He cleans up, sets the tents and does all the manual work. Well almost all of it, somethings he doesn’t do. However he is such a kind caring lad that most of the circus love the little dear, some…don’t but hey you can’t win them all! It might just take a little time to see that he means them no harm and just wants people to be happy! He has no curtains drawn on his heart; he is easy to read for his good intentions after all he just wants to help his poor mother out of her debt what cause could be nobler than that?
Ah, ah, ah no looking behind the curtains. No sneaking in at night you don’t want to get in trouble. Now shush…the circus is about to begin!

"I'm just," He bounces up on the table, a few knick knacks tumbling over the side, hurdling towards the ground as the man throws his arms out, "SINGIN', in the rain!" He belts, and does a delicate spin on the table, "JUST! SINGIN! IN! THE! RAIIIIIINNNN!" He ends abruptly, a laugh bubbling up his throat as he flicks the blonde strands of hair from his piercing blue eyes.

"S-S-Sir, maybe you have had too much to drink...." One of the maids stutters, rushing to pick up the things that had fallen onto the ground.

He grabs his whiskey glass and pours another drink, watching the liquid drip drop into the cup, "Nonsense! I'm just simply celebrating! Come, dear!" He grabs her hand and spins her in a circle, a charming smile zipping across his face, "Let us dance."

The maid turns bright red as he spins her, this was probably the first time she ever felt like royalty... Darrel chuckled, giving to the needy was always so...Rewarding...

As he lets her go gently, he takes another large gulp of his drink and wipes his mouth, sitting down on his rug and taking a deep breath in.

A howl is heard, it pierces Darrel's ears and his face drops into a low scowl, "That filthy flesh-eater..."

His nose wrinkles in disgust as he finishes off his whiskey. He watches the maid continue to clean, ignoring the angered rumbles coming from the cages. If they want to make a scene, Darrel would let them. As long as there wasn't any commotion stirring, Darrel rarely worries, for he believes he has the whole Cirque in his hand; the Cirque are his puppets, and he was the master, all the strings were his to tug and jostle if needed.

"Sir, is there anything else you might need?" The maid asks as she picks up her basket with her cleaning supplies.

"Mmm... Some food would be nice, have the cook send in a plate in an hour. You are free to go." He waves her off with his bejeweled fingers and she eagerly leaves the tent.

Darrel's eyes flicker to his right, then back to his left, searching for something to do, something to amuse him for the time being. He stands, effortlessly gliding towards his desk again, shuffling through some papers that he had left over on his desk. As he shuffles through the papers, he notices a handwritten letter...

Darrel,

For a long time, I have tracked you down to this Cirque... And I think it is only fair for you to meet your son. His name is Bosco, he has gone eighteen years without a father. He deserves one. You must tell him the truth, you...

Darrel stops reading it, curling up the neatly written letter in his fist, tossing it into the trash bin.

The truth would slay Bosco... It would make him spiral into a thousand black suns... Darrel couldn't say a thing, for it was not his fault that this had happened.... It couldn't be...Darrel shook his head violently, as if it would shake the thoughts away from him forever.

Pierrot keeps an eye on Kainito and Sister, hearing the exchange between them, not understanding it fully. What would Kainito want besides flesh? He nods his head as Sister walks over to him. He looks at Kainito. “…you would think the Strait jacket and muzzle would be enough…” he whispers, sounding a bit sad before shaking his head seeming to perk up. He had to be happy, it was his job he would get in trouble if he wasn’t. “Anyway…I don’t think we can cause more of a scene than Kainito roaring…no offense Kainito.” He says glancing behind him as Kainito gives a loud growl in reply, whether that was his way of saying no offense taken or to leave that was a bit unclear.

He hears the snake his at him looking at her with wave as he pulls out a tiny hat from his sleeve and places it lightly on the snake with a chuckle, before shaking his head. “Sorry, should ask…still a bit in work mode I suppose. I have to come up with better material…” he explains with a shrug. “I will think of something I am sure.”

“I have been good, busy rehearsing and making sure I don’t hurt myself when I take those tumbles.” He offers as he rests his hands behind his head. “I will say the roar from Kainito made me fall off my ball, I should get used to that.” He adds before turning to her, “How about you?” he inquires as he catches a glimpse of Bosco falling from the tents entrance. “Bosco! Are you trying to steal my job?” he teases him with a chuckle. He continues walking, intent on getting his equipment. “So far I have not seen The Devil Darrel, or was it Daring?” He comments with a shrug, knowing full well it was Daring as he chuckles.

Darrel left the crumpled note on his desk, he wasn't about to worry himself about this.

Bosco did not need to know... No. He COULDN'T know.

With the nearest candle, Darrel burned the letter, leaving it's ashes in the trash bin. Grabbing his black cloak, he took off with haste, he had to do his daily run and make sure things were going smoothly.

Especially Kainito.

Darrel didn't trust that rat ever since he joined the Cirque. He tried to teach him how to be civil, but Kainito was stubborn, and refused a lot of what Darrel offered him.

Bustling off towards the cages, he pauses as he hears two voices lingering a little ways away. Darrel could not catch most of the conversation, but he heard Nameless's voices loud and clear through it all.

“So far I have not seen The Devil Darrel, or was it Daring?”

Devil? A dark chuckle escapes from his lips, That's almost flattering.

Almost. He thought to himself as he began to walk.

With a twisted smile, Darrel strides behind Sister and Pierrot, his anger building with each step. There wasn't a chance in Heaven or Hell he was going to let others talk badly about him without getting away with it.

Placing a firm hand on Pierrot's shoulder he leaned in to the clown's ear, "Say that again?" Darrel's voice was low, almost rumbling and reverberating in his throat. Darrel waited for an answer as he raised an eyebrow, his fingers almost clawing into Pierrot's skin like talons.

Alice can’t help but giggle a little as Bosco fell to the floor when he tried to pull out her knife. “Was it that hard?” she asked as she bent over. “Thanks for pulling that out for me, you helped me a lot.” She offered her hand to him to help him up, before she was distracted as she heard a voice from outside.

Peeking out from the tent’s entrance, her eyes widened as she saw Darrel hold Pierrot in an almost vice-like grip. What had he done this time? Her heart pounded slightly as she curled her fingers around the knife she retrieved from the pole. Hopefully, the incident will resolve itself without her having to interfere. But again, who knows what Darrel the Daring might do.

Her violet eyes flickered from Darrel to Pierrot as she shifted her concentration on her aim, while waiting to see how things turn out. She might have to take extreme measures to get Darrel to calm down, but she supposed it was worth the risk.

After standing up from his fall, Bosco brushed off his jumpsuit. Not like it mattered since he knew it was bound to get dirty and disheveled again later on in the day. The boy then pulled his hood off from his head, and shook his hair out. He looked over at Alice who seemed to be giggling at him. Thinking about it now he realized him falling was a Tad bit funny so he started to laugh as well.

"Yes, ma'am. You're becoming a pro!" Bosco answered the young girl. He handed her back the knife, holding the blade so she could grab the handle,"Any time."

Hearing voices was normal around the circus, so for Bosco he would at time tune it out. Some days it could get pretty loud which wold only distract him from his work. The only way he could work was by tuning it out. And today was no exception. When Alice peeked out the tent , he tilted his head. Bosco joined her by the tent entrance as to see what she saw. His ears finally tuning in.

His eyes widened when he saw the ringleader gripping Pierrot's shoulder. Sister stood beside the two. Once again, Bosco was confused. Why had the Pierrot done to be confronted by Darrel? Bosco thought to himself. Although he was new, he knew Darrel meant business and was not afraid to lash out on circus members if something wrong happened.

Bosco's mind went back and forth trying to decide whether it not he should say something to help in Pierrot's case. He opened his mouth but quickly shut it again. He had no idea what Pierrot had done. Maybe, just maybe Pierrot had done something idiotic that indeed needed punishing. Or maybes the ringleader was having a nice little chat with them. Given the atmosphere in the area he knew it wasn't the latter but he could still hang on to that hope.

Pierrot freezes as he feels the hand grip his shoulder like talons, the face under the mask dropping as his heart sinks. Darrels’ breath tickles his ear like a cat toying with a mouse, his words echoing in his ear. He really had not meant for the Ringleader to hear that, if had known he was in earshot well he wouldn’t have called him a devil…it seems he really was a fool this time around.
When he finally speaks it was a small intake of air first, as if preparing himself as he gently holds his mask. “I said I haven’t seen you around today Darrel. I said Devil Darrel because you are like a Dare Devil.” He lied, a forced tone of happiness to match the forced smile he wore underneath his mask.
“I…should go, I have to get my equipment.” He says flinching at the vice like grip he has him in, he catches a glance of young Alice and shakes his head very lightly to her, throwing a knife would be…very, very bad against this man. He can handle the punishment for this, well…as long as Darrel didn’t take his mask, Pierrot has grown quite fond of it over the years of him having to wear it.
A roar comes from where Kainito is kept once more as he turns to it, concern in his stance for the Blue Beast. He glances at Bosco, then to Sister as if expecting them to know what is going on.

Feeling the boy freeze under his grip, Darrel gains a dirty smirk. He always loved a good game of cat and mouse.. .Where of course, he was the cat...

Pierrot seemed to be frozen in place, but managed to find the words, " “I said I haven’t seen you around today Darrel. I said Devil Darrel because you are like a Dare Devil.”

Darrel crinkled his nose in disgust for a moment, the clown was a liar... But a good one. Darrel liked that.

With a dark chuckle, the ring leader gripped the string on the back of Pierrot's mask, slinging it back and letting it slap back on the back of Pierrot's head.

"That's.. Nice..." Darrel claimed after a moment of silence, his words bitter.

“I…should go, I have to get my equipment.” Pierrot stuttered, flinching in Darrel's uncomfortable grip. Watching him squirm made Darrel excited, making people uncomfortable was Darrel's forte.

A deafening animalistic roar seemed to quake the air from where Kainito was caged up and Darrel's eyes flickered around. If the beast had gotten out of his chair again Darrel was surely going to lose it... Although it would give him a chance to bring out his whips.... Teach the brat a lesson...

Just before letting go of Pierrot, Darrel swoops in close to his ear, "You're on thin ice, Clown. I'd watch yourself..and your tongue." With those final words, Darrel takes ahold of Pierrot's neck and squeezes it, pushing Pierrot down towards the ground enough so he would stumble forward.

"Now... I have other matters to worry about." Darrel turned away from the rest and strode over to Kainito's cage. As he approached the cage, he noticed the boy had... Once again... Broken the chair and was crouched in the middle of the cage. The beast crouched in the middle seemed to smile at him, taunting Darrel.

"BOSCO!" Darrel screamed, "Grab my whips. I know a certain something needs to be taught a lesson." The words seeped through his teeth like poison.

Pierrot places a hat on Adalynne and Sister giggled a bit, “Sorry, should ask…still a bit in work mode I suppose. I have to come up with better material… I will think of something I am sure.”

Sister giggles as Adalynne tries to shake off the hat.

“I have been good, busy rehearsing and making sure I don’t hurt myself when I take those tumbles. I will say the roar from Kainito made me fall off my ball, I should get used to that. How about you?”

"I've been alright. Things have been slow." Sister shrugged as they passed Bosco and Alice.

“Bosco! Are you trying to steal my job?” Pierrot teased Bosco lightly with a chuckle.

The two continued to walk, “So far I have not seen The Devil Darrel, or was it Daring?" Sister smirked, Pierrot could always offer a good chuckle.

But the fun seemed to cease when Darrel swooped out from behind them.

"Say that again? The man's voice rumbled as he gripped on Pierrot's arm. Sister backed away a step or two, Darrel did not scare her, but she also did not want any trouble.

“I said I haven’t seen you around today Darrel. I said Devil Darrel because you are like a Dare Devil.” Pierrot covered up his mistake quickly, but Darrel wasn't an idiot... Not by a long shot.

"That's.. Nice..." The anger in Darrel's voice was a terrifying undertone.

Darrel whispered something to Pierrot, and pushed Pierrot to the ground. Darrel quickly turned his attention to the roar coming from Kainito's cage... Sister looked towards Pierrot, offering a hand.

"I am sorry, Pierrot." Sister said, offering a hand to help him up.